News

Clean technology Electric cars, leading the charge

Monday, 24th September 2012

Summary: Right now the entire human race has car trouble. There are about a billion of them, they are polluting our atmosphere, and they are running out of affordable fuel.

Most serious commentators now agree that Peak Oil has either already happened or will happen in the next few years. This means oil will become increasingly costly and risky to extract, and the price of a tank of petrol or diesel is on a long-term upward spiral, making the electric alternative increasingly attractive.

We may have got used to seeing the occasional hybrid gliding along our roads, but there are currently only a handful of all-electric private vehicles cruising New Zealand’s streets.

About 90% of New Zealand’s cars in are driven less than 85km per day, which is well within the range of today’s electric vehicles. And with so many homes in New Zealand already equipped with powered up garages suitable for charging, there is little now standing in the way of a motoring revolution.

Korean scientists develop fast-charging battery

Summary: Scientists in South Korea say new development cuts down recharging time to between 1/30 and 1/120 of existing lithium-ion batteries and could boost uptake of electric vehicles when developed.

South Korean scientists have developed a new material for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that they say could cut charging time down significantly and prove a boon for electric vehicles.

According to Yonhap News Agency's report on Monday, a group of scientists from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, who were funded by the country's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, has gone beyond conventional rechargeable battery technology.